April 27, 2006

Man dead, officer wounded in Ohio airport shooting

by ssavage

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A man demanding a plane ticket at
Cleveland's main airport grabbed the gun of a police officer
and shot him in the chest on Thursday before being gunned down
by other officers, authorities said.

The unidentified man, who was pronounced dead at a
hospital, was described by witnesses as a homeless person who
had previously sought a ticket to Chicago at another airline
counter before going to the United Airlines' counter, where he
was confronted by police.

The veteran officer, who had been trying to calm the man,
was in critical condition.

A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration
said the incident at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
was not terrorism-related.

A few United flights were delayed briefly, and the area
around the upper-level ticket counter was cordoned off, airport
officials said.